Members of The Blue Mountains council have expressed their opposition to a plan by Enbridge Gas to implement a $200 fee for gas line locating services.
At its meeting on April 24, council voted unanimously to oppose the fee sent to the town by the Association of Road Supervisors. On March 10, Enbridge Gas announced a proposal to introduce a $200 fee for locates being done for third-party contractors and other utilities. This would include municipalities and contractors doing work on behalf of municipalities.
The association suggested the new fee could result in thousands of dollars in additional costs for municipalities around the province and was proposed to go into effect on May 1. However, Enbridge has since confirmed that the proposed fee has been put on hold.
The letter from the association also noted that Enbridge natural gas infrastructure was mostly located on municipal right-of-ways at no charge to Enbridge.
Multiple members of council called the fee “sneaky.”
“We need to address this, especially with where we are with development,” said Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon. “There has to be some kind of exemption for municipalities. It could cost the town a lot of money for no particular reason.”
Locates are required anytime a contractor is digging where underground utilities, like natural gas, may be present.
Andrea Stass, manager of external communications and media relations for Enbridge confirmed in an email to CollingwoodToday that the proposed fee is on hold.
“Enbridge Gas has made the decision to put the implementation of the locate delivery charge on pause. We are using this time to continue our industry consultations and will provide additional information once we have confirmed our approach,” said Stass. “Enbridge Gas remains committed to the safe and timely delivery of locates.”
